WATERSON GETS TIME, PLACE FOR NEXT BOUT
Upset of Joanna Jedrzejczyk in Florida in October could lead to a UFC title shot for “Karate Hottie” Michelle Waterson
As widely reported last month, Albuquerque MMA strawweight Michelle Waterson will face former UFC champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk this fall.
Now, there’s a confirmed time and place.
Waterson (17-6) and Jedrzejczyk (15-3) will throw down on Oct. 12 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., on a card to be streamed on ESPN+, the UFC has announced. The story first was reported by mmafighting. com.
The Albuquerque fighter has won three fights in a row, and after her most recent victory — by unanimous decision over Karolina Kowalkiewicz on March 30 — campaigned for a title shot against UFC strawweight (115-pound) champion Jessica Andrade. But UFC President Dana White said no, instead matching Andrade with China’s Weili Zhang.
An upset of Jedrzejczyk, though, might well get Waterson that title shot.
As of this writing, Waterson has not reacted to Friday’s news on social media. But Jedrzejczyk posted the following on Facebook: “Let’s go @karatehottiemma (Waterson’s Twitter handle). This fight is for all of you, who believe in me. Have a good camp with no injuries. I’ll see ya in Tampa”.
Jedrzejczyk is well known as one of MMA’s premier trash talkers; Waterson rarely, if ever engages in such things. But in a recent interview, Jedrzejczyk said she at times has regretted having talked so much trash in the past.
Besides, the two got along well when Jedrzejczyk visited Albuquerque’s Jackson-Wink MMA, Waterson’s longtime training home, in the spring of 2016.
The native of Poland now trains, however, in Florida at American Top Team — perhaps Jackson-Wink’s main rival as the sport’s most successful and influential gym.
From 2014-17, Jedrzejczyk reigned supreme in the UFC’s strawweight division — winning eight fights in a row (including a victory over Andrade, the current champion) before losing her title to Rose Namajunas. She then lost to Namajunas in a rematch and lost to champion Valentina Shevchenko in a bid for the UFC flyweight title in
December. She has not fought since then. Waterson is 5-2 in UFC competition, having rebounded from losses to Namajunas and Tecia Torres with wins over Cortney Casey, Felice Herig and Kowalkiewicz.
SOCHI-BOUND: Albuquerque MMA heavyweight Cody East (13-4) is scheduled to face Alexander Maslov (1-0) in Sochi, Russia, on Wednesday.
East hasn’t fought in MMA since his last trip east, which ended in a loss by fifth-round retirement against Alexei Kudin in Bozhou, China, in June 2018. In April, East defeated Delaware’s Joe Stripling by unanimous decision on a Lion Fights Muay Thai card at Route 66 Casino Hotel.